Workshop: Speculative fiction as method for thinking about research

What is speculative fiction? How is it relevant to contemporary scholarship and research method(ologies)?

Speculative fiction refers to texts (novel, film, other media) that probe readers/viewers to ask ‘what if’ questions, and reconsider the quotidian certainties of the past, present, and future. Such texts may defamiliarize readers’ thinking about what is, or cause readers to reconsider what could be through describing different worlds, or describing this world, differently. While speculative fictions generally do not attempt to realistically represent our current world, through the exploration of alternative, or extrapolated, or fantastical stories, speculative fiction is a medium that allegorically or metaphorically can draw attention to elements of our current world or research that may need to be reconsidered.

In this workshop, participants will read, discuss, and write about the relationship between speculative fiction and contemporary scholarship. The workshop will pivot on a selection of academic writings curated by A/Prof Sarah Truman as part of an ARC-funded research project that investigates how contemporary scholars across disciplines use speculative fiction texts as prompts to think through their own research. So far, the collection has 24 entries written by international scholars across disciplines.

Participants in the workshop will be given one or two texts to read and discuss. They will then have an opportunity to think through the project prompts and discuss/write about their own research area and expertise in relation to (speculative) fiction.

No pre-reading required.

A/Professor Sarah E. Truman is a trans-disciplinary scholar in literary education, cultural studies, and the arts, and co-director the Literary Education Lab (www.LiteraryEducationLab.org) at University of Melbourne. From 2022-2025, Dr. Truman is an ARC DECRA Fellow, their project ‘Speculative Futures’ focuses on speculative fiction as an interdisciplinary method for thinking about the world and mode of literary engagement in diverse pedagogical settings (high schools, universities, and interdisciplinary scholarship). Truman is also PI on the ARC Linkage Grant ‘Reading Climate’ (2024-2026) which focuses on the relationship between Indigenous climate fictions, literary education, and climate justice. Truman’s other past and ongoing artistic and scholarly collaborations include WalkingLab, a SSHRC-funded international arts collective (www.WalkingLab.Org) and Oblique Curiosities, a electro folk group (www.ObliqueCuriosities.com).